My New Home

So, here I am embarking on a new adventure all by myself. I moved to Portland about two and a half months ago, and I already feel like it’s home. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excitedly exploring everything, and each day I find new things that are novel and provocative, but I already feel like Portland is just the right fit for me.

I meet such cool and quirky people almost every day, and I love being engulfed in the lush greenery every where I go. There are so many unique little shops and restaurants and neighborhoods, and there seems to be at least one festival of some kind going on every weekend. There seems to be something cool around every corner. Of course, this image of Portland is my perspective, which may just be clouded with rose-colored glasses right now. I’m bolstered by the accomplishment of moving to a different state by myself, and I’m basking in self-confidence and the quenching of some of my wanderlust.

It’s true, I do feel lonely and vulnerable sometimes. For instance, the transmission broke on my car, and it no longer goes in reverse, so my transportation situation is fairly precarious; I’ve had to do a lot of creative parking. But, thankfully, I live in a city that’s known for it’s public transportation system, and I have a bus stop right outside my front door. In fact, I’ve taken public transportation pretty often already because it’s just more convenient. The MAX (Portland’s light rail system) is just plain fun to ride.

I live in a small studio apartment in the South Western quadrant of Portland. It’s definitely not the most happening part of town, but it’s quiet and safe. My studio is termed a “mother-in-law apartment” and it sits above a garage behind the house of the family I’m renting it from. The family is made up of a young Japanese couple and their 3-year-old son. They are very mild-mannered and easy-going, and, of course, we both enjoy having the Japanese connection. When I told them I had a cat named Kage, there was no explanation necessary. (For those of you who don’t know, kage means “shadow” in Japanese.)

The main house (with my apartment in the back) .

View of my apartment above the garage down the driveway .

The back of the main house.

(The vine-like plant on the ground is some kind of Japanese squash.

My landlord planted it soon after I moved in, and I swear that it's grown about a foot a day.)

My landlords' chickens in their coop in the backyard.

(I get free eggs!)

View of my stairs as they wrap around to my front door.

Kage on the landing by my front door.

I got a job working at a Hilton Garden Inn as the Night Auditor, which means I work the graveyard shift. I’ve always been a night person, but the hours are still pretty tough. I’m hoping to get a different job with better hours and better pay in the near future, but for now it’s not a bad place to work.

I’ve already had a few adventures here in Oregon, and I’ve taken some cool pictures of them. Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a computer of my own to which I can upload the pictures on, yet. (The ones you see here were taken with my new phone’s camera, which I can send directly to an online album.) I’m planning on going to a Kinko’s or Walgreens soon, to see if they can put the pics from my camera’s memory card onto a disc for me. Hopefully the next blog will describe those first Portland adventures I experienced.

I miss hanging out with my parents and all my friends back in Phoenix, but life is good anyway. I feel pretty content, but also a little giddy. I’ll let you all know how things go from here.